The CORAL research group of Manuela Veloso, professor of computer science, hosted an open house July 31 to celebrate the addition to their lab of the Baxter Research Robot. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and KDKA-TV were among the local news media that covered the event.

The humanoid robot is the research version of a low-cost commercial robot built by Rethink Robotics of Boston. Baxter is designed to work side-by-side with people without the need for safety cages. It includes built-in cameras, force sensors, sonar and rangefinder.

Veloso's Baxter arrived in May. She plans a research project in which the two-armed, but stationary Baxter will work in concert with CoBot, a mobile, but armless robot that her research team has developed. CoBot runs errands for occupants of CMU's Gates and Hillman centers; new capabilities are envisioned with the addition of Baxter to the team.